Exploring Black Greek Life
Kendall Finlay (C’17) knew he wanted to join Greek life at Penn, but with the various options he wasn’t sure where to turn.
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Kendall Finlay (C’17) knew he wanted to join Greek life at Penn, but with the various options he wasn’t sure where to turn.
Picture a family of three—a young–ish married couple and a four–month–old baby—sitting at an immigration office in Greece, all three with olive skin and varying degrees of curly hair. The first five letters the immigration officer sees on their last name? H–A–D–J–I, or "hadji", the noun for a Muslim person who has made the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca. How do you think these people would be perceived by Trump's proposed immigration process, even if it's just the "extreme vetting" he described as a step back from his original proposal?
When I was a kid, I was an animal fanatic, so I was pretty upset when we had to dissect a baby pig in the fifth grade. In the midst of some tears (Frank Ocean was wrong, boys DO cry) I made a proclamation to the class that I was going vegetarian.
Earlier this month, dozens of Penn students flocked downtown on a Friday night—but not to Rumor, or even to a BYO. Instead, they were headed to the PhilaMOCA (Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art, 531 N. 12th St.) for rapper Ivy Sole’s (W ’15) release party for her new album, Eden. Following up her project with Indigold, her group that we covered a few months ago, the album she released last week has been buzzing all over the internet, racking up major plays on SoundCloud (and if you’re more of the download type and/or want to support, you can find it on Bandcamp) and earning itself press from Saint Heron, Respect Mag and even legendary hip–hop publication The Source.
Penn is a campus with some pretty old traditions, many of which extend to where we go to drink. Some of our favorite recurring shit–shows, like Hey Day, have been around for a hot second, while Smokes’—they call themselves “the Pennstitution” for a reason—prides itself on having served “of–age” Quakers for over 80 years now. But there are a few institutions—like Chipotle and Theos—ubiquitous to our Penn experience that are 21st–century innovations. Copa falls into the latter category.
Every Penn student remembers the moment he or she got in. I was on an annual spring break biking trip with my school in Nantucket, in the top floor of a bed and breakfast that was way too fancy for the Queens hooligans it was housing for a week (like the cast of Entourage without the whole “fame and success” thing). I locked myself in my room for some peace and quiet, and as the results came in, I would relay them to my chorus of friends outside the door, who would return to me an emphatic “1, 2, 3…FUCK HARVARD!” Rinse and repeat for Yale, Dartmouth and Princeton.
In the midst of job–hunting season, it’s easy to fall back on the stereotype that no one at Penn does anything cool after graduation. More than a few of your artsy friends may have abandoned their dreams of careers in the arts to stare at Excel spreadsheets for a comfortable starting salary, which is a pretty disillusioning sight. But don’t get it twisted—in an “Odd–Couple”–esque pairing, Penn has found itself buddying up with the hip–hop industry. Angel Del Villar dropped out of Penn just one semester short of graduating way back in the 2000s and has built himself a remarkably successful career in underground circuits as Homeboy Sandman. For a more recent example, Steven Markowitz (W ’10), better known as Hoodie Allen (or the only rapper on the average Rumor pregame playlist), quit his associate position at Google for a much more lucrative position: independent hip–hop artist selling out for college–age crowds across the nation. Even the faculty is getting in on it. Legendary producer 9 th Wonder, who has worked with the likes of Drake, Kanye West & Jay–Z, has been an artist–in–residence for the Africana Studies department this semester, teaching a class on hip–hop so popular that notoriously busy Penn students have been clearing their schedules in droves just to audit it.
In November 2014 I went to see KYLE, a California rapper, at Union Transfer. He was opening for Watsky, a rapper I had heard of but never checked out before, but I had a psych midterm in the morning so I wasn’t planning on sticking around. I got there early only to find out that Watsky was letting his tour drummer play a set before KYLE got to go on. Annoyed, I decided to give this dude with a septum piercing and a strange name a chance. That would be the last time I ever slandered the name Anderson .Paak again.
It’s one against 70, and the recruiter is losing. Rather than file out, the students swarm him, ply him with resumes and cover letters, jostle his arm in hopes of a handshake. Out of the 70, Rami Saker (C&W ’17) stands alone. He watches. Once the crowd clears out, Rami approaches the recruiter and suggests they get coffee. Surprised, the recruiter agrees.
Penn’s campus has been mourning the loss of Saigon as a non-carding BYO option since the raid during last year’s Fling. Hungry students in search of a more authentic drunken noodle experience have been flocking in cabs and Ubers to downtown eateries. Forget all that, because the newly relocated Thai Singha House on 39th and Chestnut is a game changer.
One of the hottest genres on the block these days is “PBR&B,” a dark, melodic twist on classic rhythm & blues. It’s named after the so-called “hipster” lager that graces the floor of the DP office after every Street writers meeting. Faces like Frank Ocean, Miguel and The Weeknd have dominated the forefront of the subgenre by employing heavy pop influences and unconventional song structures, breaking the hearts of the Tumblr generation along the way. Now imagine those guys were abducted by aliens from their Bonnaroo tents and fused together with Justin Timberlake, and you have yourself JMSN.
Britney Spears
How great of an idea is this? Paul McCartney, who has had his hand in so many iconic songs, gets other legends to perform his greatest hits. “The Art of McCartney” is a 42–track epic featuring legends such as Willie Nelson, Brian Wilson and Bob Dylan (there literally isn’t enough space in this article to name them all). As for the actual music, the product is mostly satisfactory, with some big misses (Billy Joel on “Maybe I’m Amazed”) and some definite jams (The Cure on “Hello, Goodbye” with a guest appearance from McCartney’s son James). While the original versions of these tracks are stronger in almost every case, it is very hard to outdo McCartney, and there is plenty to enjoy on here as a casual music listener or a fan of any of the performing artists.
Hand a 9–year–old a guitar and he will become a star. This might not be reality for many individuals, but for the Brooklyn–born, Pennsylvania–raised freshman Ben Gendelman, it hits home. Since his father first gave him a guitar and inspired him with Russian folk songs he grew up hearing, Ben has learned to master the instrument as well as pick up the bass, piano, drums and alto saxophone. As of late, he has also been producing EDM, with the hopes of getting his music played at Penn parties and festivals. This has led him to establish an extensive fanbase—over 109,000 followers on Facebook, for example.
While his major–label debut “Live from the Underground” wasn’t the commercial or critical success that many hoped it would be, Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T. has redeemed himself with his latest work, “Cadillactica”. While he’s a solid producer himself, he enlisted some outside production this time from talents like DJ Dahi, Jim Jonsin & DJ Khalil, and it paid off dividends. His Southern flair shines throughout, especially on “My Sub Pt. 3” and “Mo Better Cool”. All of the guest features, especially Rico Love and Bun B, add to the experience. Big K.R.I.T. may not have the name recognition that his contemporaries like Drake, J. Cole & Kendrick Lamar have, but “Cadillactica” is good enough to throw his hat back into the ring.
Detroit rapper Big Sean’s latest track “IDFWU” has been making waves on the radio and social media recently, and now the hard–hitting, unapologetic club banger gets video treatment. Featuring Sean as a high school quarterback and his boss Kanye West (who helped produce the track) as the team’s head coach, the video tells a story of Sean’s rocky relationship with a cheerleader and how it dragged his performance down, until he snaps out of it and wins the game for his team. It’s eerily similar to how his real life relationship with former “Glee” star Naya Rivera played out—just replace the football field with the rap world. And hey, maybe if Penn hired Kanye to coach their team we would actually beat Princeton next time.
Ventura, California rapper KYLE brings us the hilarious new video for his latest track “Don’t Wanna Fall In Love,” which samples the classic Jane Child song of the same name. The video shows KYLE and a girl getting all close with each other, up until she drops the L–word and pandemonium ensues, culminating in a boxing match. In usual KYLE fashion, the video highlights his love of beaches, video games and goofy antics (like getting punched and flying 100 feet in the air). Kate Taylor probably thinks KYLE should go to Penn based on this track, but he’s really just exploring that feeling that we all know too well—sometimes no matter how great the person is, we just don’t want to fall in love. Catch KYLE opening for Watsky on Wednesday, November 5th at Union Transfer.
It seems like Theophilus London has been on the brink of stardom for years now. His latest album “Vibes!” has its moments but falls victim to the same mistake that much of his earlier work did—the style overshadows the actual substance. Tracks like “Water Me” and “Heartbreaker” showcase his talent for making intelligent, catchy music, but the album gets dragged down by the unpleasant “Do Girls” and the half–baked island jam “Smoke Dancehall.” The features are solid throughout, especially Kanye West and Dev Hynes (of Blood Orange), and the album isn’t unlistenable at any moment. Still, while London clearly has the talent to put out some great stuff (see “Big Spender” from his last mixtape), he needs to sharpen his execution to separate himself from his contemporaries.
Creepy Lyric:
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